Privacy-related lawsuit against ICBC moves ahead: BC Court of Appeal

A class action lawsuit against ICBC will move ahead in its current form according to a ruling by the BC Court of Appeal.

The lawsuit against the Crown corporation was filed by Collette Parsons Harris Lawyers to achieve compensation for 78 customers whose personal information was sold by an ICBC employee in 2010, for $25 or more per licence plate number.

Of those affected, 13 were the targets of arson, vandalism, and shooting incidents. After the class action suit was approved by the BC Court of Appeal in 2019, ICBC tried to argue it wasn’t responsible for the possible privacy breaches. It claimed the information sold was only contact information, and not private.

However, the appeal panel has rejected this claim, stating that class action members don’t need to prove individual proof of damages to receive general damages in the lawsuit.

The lawsuit seeks to obtain compensation, restitution of property damage, and punitive damages for the affected individuals, many of whom had a connection to the Justice Institute of British Columbia.

In 2017, Candy Elaine Rheaume, a former ICBC employee from New Westminster, was arrested in connection to the privacy breach after she pleaded guilty to one count of unauthorized use of a customer’s information. Rheaume was fired by ICBC in 2011.

With files from Srushti Gangdev and CityNews staff